DESIGN / December
Real Estate since 1991
Stairway to
the future
Vilnius welcomes the
MO Museum, the most
awaited architecture
newcomer of the
outgoing year.
Words by Olga Dolina
Publicity photo
Fly to
Vilnius
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€
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There are two reasons of equal impor-
tance to pack your bags straight away and
head to Lithuania. First, the MO Modern
Art Museum is the biggest private institu-
tion of its kind in the country. The collec-
tion developed by local philanthropists
Viktoras Butkus and Danguole Butkiene,
co-founders of the Modern Art Center
Vilnius (MAC), finally has a proper space
to exhibit its over 5000 pieces of Lithu-
anian contemporary art representing the
1950s to the best artists of today. Second,
the new museum building was designed
by leading architect Daniel Libeskind,
known as the designer of, among others,
the internationally acclaimed Jewish
Museum in Berlin and the Royal Ontario
Museum. This is Libeskind’s first project
in the Baltic countries and it is definitely
worth exploring.
In collaboration with Do Architects
and Baltic Engineers of Lithuania,
Studio Libeskind created a real minimal-
ist show-off: a rectangular structure clad
in white plaster that clearly stands out in
its visually ‘calmer’ historical surround-
ings yet precisely matches its neighbours
at a height of 17 metres. As the architects
say, the compact 3500-square-metre
museum is a cultural gateway connect-
ing the 18 th -century grid of streets with
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the medieval city centre. The concept
was inspired by historical city gates and
refers to forms and materials seen in the
local architecture. The sharp diagonal
volume strikes deep into the façade, and
a dramatic staircase leads to the en-
trance. Although seemingly simple from
the outside, thanks to the angled glass
wall framing and skylights, the interior
is a real feast of geometrical interplays.
The centre of the lobby is marked by
a freestanding, black-and-white spiral
staircase leading to two exhibition halls.
A transparent storage space even lets
curious visitors sneak a peek into the
museum’s backstage area. To dilute
the dominance of the urban mood, a
spacious public garden and sculpture
exhibition sits alongside the museum.
For art to be accessible to the widest
range of people possible, MO also holds
film screenings, concerts, educational
events, and conversations. The artwork
on display will rotate several times
per year with a programme of various
exhibitions. The inauguratory showcase,
All Art Is About Us (until February 18),
presents the quintessence of national
identity and artistic diversity created
over the past six decades.
Pylimo g. 17; mo.lt